Notice Me
by callie rawston
Summary: Kate and Jed one-shot, told from perspective of Molly and Ryan


**So was meant to be working on updates of Casualty fics, but somehow they won't work for me right now and therefore needed a distraction, which Kate and Jed seemed happy to provide. Random little one-shot, dedicated to Anny and Meggi, just for being Anny and Meggi!**

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**Notice Me**

Molly cast a glance over towards the closed bedroom door of her best friend with interest as she stood making coffee, wondering if the sounds she could hear were Kate herself getting ready to face the world or whether they were being caused by the presence of someone else entirely.

"Do you think he stayed?" Ryan questioned quietly from where he was busily making toast beside her, waving his finger in the direction of Kate's door to confirm that he too was thinking about the noises of the previous night. "Do you think we should tell her we can hear everything through these walls?" he added, forcing Molly to turn her frowning gaze upon him.

"I don't know," she responded meekly in response to his first point. "And I'm pretty sure she already knows," she answered to the second. "This is Kate we're talking about after all; I think she thrives on the attention."

Her mind was momentarily distracted from her conversation with her flatmate by the opening of the bathroom door and the arrival of Jed from within, bare chested and wearing nothing but the trademark jogging bottoms that Molly had grown used to appreciating him moodily brooding around the apartment in. Regardless of his motives for staying in the tiny room Kate had allocated him when they all knew full well there were multiple empty flats in Bedlam Heights he could have slept in, the view first thing in the morning was definitely a bonus for her.

"Is Kate up yet?" Jed queried, sitting down on one of the stools around the counter from Molly and Ryan as he spoke and staring at them both intently.

"We haven't seen her," Ryan answered before she was able to, yet before she could interject with her own comment, Kate's door was pushed open and a man Molly recognised, but could not place in spite of that, appeared from within the confines of the luxurious room and joined them in the living area, pulling the door closed behind him and appearing somewhat embarrassed to find three sets of eyes upon his topless form.

"Morning," he stated politely, nodding his head in their direction but steadfastly refusing to meet their gaze as he scurried past them, making for the door as he simultaneously grappled with putting on his shirt. Molly watched his handsome form departing; noticing as she did that his back was covered in deep red scratches just before he opened the door to the hallway and disappeared out of view.

"Meow," Ryan whispered from beside her with a slight chuckle and she found herself silently acknowledging the cat-like nature of the marks inflicted on his skin, apparently from his encounter with her friend the night before.

"Kate's a very passionate person," Molly stated aloud, more to herself than the other two men present as she was sure they were both equally aware of her fervent behaviour. She already knew that Ryan had been an unwitting receiver of Kate's undoubted charms in the bathroom of this very flat in the recent past and despite their apparent family connection; she did not doubt that there had once been something more than an adoptive cousin relationship between her feisty best friend and Jed.

"I think we all know that," Ryan retorted with a smile, before appearing to recognise quite how odd that sounded. "I mean we could all hear them last night after all," he added and Molly noted the firmness of Jed's expression in response on reflecting over the previous night's events.

"Morning," Kate said, her voice travelling over from her once again opened bedroom door and dragging the stare of all three people present over to her direction. Molly couldn't fail but notice how Kate was dressed only in the skimpiest of nightgowns and she found herself instinctively nudging Ryan, who despite asserting on several previous occasions that he had no interest in her in that way, was standing ogling his landlady's gorgeous figure, almost to the point of drooling. "I hope I didn't keep you awake last night," she continued, running her fingers through her messy hair whilst she walked over to the counter, throwing them all a cheeky grin as she did so.

"Got plans for today Mol?" Kate questioned as she approached before she stopped and wrapped her arm around her shoulders, squeezing slightly and meeting Molly's smile with a laugh.

"I have a couple of interviews lined up, nothing major," she replied without hesitation, before she witnessed her friend roll her eyes in response.

"Another fruitful day then in unemployment land?" Kate replied good-humouredly. "It's a good job I like having you around isn't it?" she added and despite the apparent harsh implication of the words, Molly found herself feeling overwhelmed by the all-encompassing magnetism of the girl she had grown up with. "Thanks for the coffee by the way," Kate continued, stealing one of the cups that Molly had been busily preparing only minutes earlier right from under her nose and bringing the mug up to her mouth to drain a gulp of the steaming liquid before meeting Molly's mock-annoyed facial expression with a smile. "As for you," Kate stated emphatically, turning her attention to Ryan and moving to lean back against the counter between where he and Molly stood to study him further. "You were out last night weren't you?" she questioned, making the man's cheeks redden instantly. "Intriguing," she concluded, reaching her hand slowly out in his direction as she did so, snatching up a piece of toast he had not long since placed on the plate in front of him, before spinning out of his reach before he could pinch it back.

Molly watched as Kate came to a halt in front of the stool that seated her cousin, standing so close to him that it was hard to imagine from the angle of her view that there was actually any open space between then. Kate brought the piece of toast up to her mouth and bit down hard on the crunchy bread, her eyes focused directly on Jed's the entire time, with his stare locked on her just as securely in response.

"I need you," Kate said, in a tone Molly knew she could only begin to describe as seductive and she watched as the usually expressionless Jed's features hardened slightly, as his breath quickened on hearing those words and on feeling her breath on his skin as her eyes skimmed his body whilst she looked him up and down, chewing on her lower lip as she did so. "I need you to do some work for me this morning. Can you meet me in the office in half an hour?" she stated matter-of-factly, dismissing the tension she had just allowed to build with one simple sentence. "That is alright isn't it? I mean you need to earn your keep, just like everyone else," she added sarcastically, stepping back away from Jed and flouncing past him in the direction of her room, coffee mug and toast still in her hands.

Molly found her eyes following Kate as she crossed the room and was aware that both her male companions were also studying her retreating form intently, Jed especially paying particular focus it seemed in her opinion to the flimsy garment Kate was barely wearing, before she halted in the door way and spun around.

"Sorry again," Kate stated with a small smile. "If we kept you awake I mean. It wasn't my intention," she concluded, locking stares with Jed once more and from the look in her eyes, Molly could tell that her friend was enjoying making the man squirm under the intensity of her gaze before she headed back into the sanctuary of her bedroom and closed the door firmly behind her.

From beside her Molly heard Ryan let out a deep breath and saw him shake his head as he busied himself once more with making toast, most likely to make up for the missing piece that had just been taken by their mischievous friend. Jed was sat frozen on the stool staring at the doorway Kate had just disappeared behind, his eyes dark and his jaw set as if he was concentrating with all his might on not reacting to her provocative actions. However as motionless as he had been sitting, he quickly stood up and charged into his own room and slammed the door behind him, seemingly desperate to be on his own for a while to compose himself.

"You know that guy was married right?" Ryan said conspiratorially, causing Molly to flicker her eyes in surprise at the words her flatmate had just uttered. "I was downstairs installing software for Warren when he and his wife signed the agreement to move in, Aaron I think his name is," he elaborated, apparently wanting to discuss the subject further. "He lives on the other side of the building. I wonder how he will explain the scratches," he added, prompting Molly to ponder that subject momentarily.

"Another complicated mess I'll have to pick up the pieces of tomorrow then," she replied sadly, wondering why it was that such a beautiful and talented person as her closest friend had such a disastrously complex personal life and always managed to choose just the wrong person to get her claws into, or in one particular case fall for completely even if she would never admit it, not even to herself, never mind Molly or the man in question.

"Why does she do it do you think?" Ryan asked inquisitively. "I mean with married men ad people she knows she won't ever date," he continued and Molly found her mind instantly wandering to the day she and Jed had burst in on her best friend passionately making out with Ryan against the wall of the bathroom. "She never used to be like this."

"She likes to be noticed I guess," Molly responded with a shrug. "It's just Kate, that's just what she's like. She likes to be noticed."

The two of them continued to eat breakfast with some gentle banter, being joined a short time later by a now fully clothed Jed who chose to remain silently seated on the couch, his eyes never leaving the closed door that led to Kate's room and provoking Molly to consider whether Kate's escalating recklessness had been triggered by having back in her life the only person she had ever wanted to really notice her, to see through the outwardly confident mask that Molly herself only saw behind in the teary late night moments after her best friend had yet another disastrous date with someone wholly unsuitable.

"I said I'd meet you downstairs," Kate said stubbornly as she emerged from her room exactly thirty minutes after she had left them to get ready, dressed to kill in a short skirt and blouse that even Molly could appreciate accentuated every curve. She watched as her flatmate headed straight towards the sofa, halting so very close to Jed that she caused him to stand up and brush against her, before she reached down in front of him to pull on the knee-high boots that lay strewn from where she had most likely taken them off the night before. She slid both her feet in successfully, but stumbled slightly as she yanked at the zip of one and ended up being held upright by the strong arms of Jed around her hips. As she straightened herself up in front of him, Molly saw Kate whisper something in his ear and from her position could see his eyes widen and his arms stiffen against her, but was unable to hear the words.

Kate shook Jed off and backed away as quickly as she had approached, turning to smile at where Molly still sat with Ryan as he helped her search for jobs on his laptop, before she promptly left the flat with the brooding male hot on her heels, his gaze having never left her side since she re-entered the room.

"If she wanted him to notice her, I think she might well have succeeded," Ryan stated, his voice sounding as apprehensive to Molly as she felt at the thought of what was likely to come.

"Mmmm-hmmm," she acknowledged, shutting her eyes and instantly picturing the electric chemistry that was apparent amongst the two so different, yet incredibly similar people who they shared the flat with and found herself hoping that whilst Kate might have finally achieved her wish of gaining Jed's attention and causing him to notice her, she would think through what was about to happen next before she acted and had her heartbroken all over again. Just like Molly remembered from all those years before, when like now Jed had noticed Kate and like now he had been unable to get her out of his head, an event she was certain had triggered a great deal of what had come afterwards, pushing Jed into a psychiatric clinic and Kate to the brink of insanity. Despite the obvious connection between the two people she had known and cared about for years, Molly found herself uncertain as to whether Jed noticing Kate once more could ever be a positive thing for all the damage the two of them would cause if they ever again crossed that particular line, something she knew at the present time was likely an inevitability.

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**So there we go. Hope you enjoyed, reviews welcome as ever. C x**


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